Luke Littler becomes a back-to-back World Champion at the 2026 Darts World Championship, after a 7-1 victory in the final against Gian Van Veen.
The Ally Pally was host to a tournament which hosted the largest prize pool ever, and the standard did not disappoint, providing a record-breaking 17,170 checkouts.
Heroes were made along the way, comebacks stole the show, and upsets proved vital along the way.
This is the story of the World Darts Championship 2026.
The 18-year-old is now the first player to win back-to-back titles since Gary Anderson a decade ago.
His competition started how it was destined to follow, a 3-0, 101 average victory against the Lithuanian Darius Labanauskis.
Failing to drop a set in the first 3 rounds, fellow former champion Rob Cross proved one of Littler’s only challenges in the tournament, beating ‘Voltage’ 4 sets to 2 in the Round of 16.
More records were to be broken in the next round against Krzysztof Ratajski, winning the fastest ever best-of-9 set Quarter Final, a 5-0 victory coming in just under 35 minutes.
It was near enough to cruise control for his second Championship after that, only dropping a set to semi-finalist Ryan Searle and finalist Gian Van Veen. Both players were not at their best, capped off by ‘The Nuke’s’ average reaching above 105 in both affairs.
Now sitting at the World Number 1 in the Order of Merit, who can slow Luke down?
Speaking of the Final, it’s one Gian Van Veen may want to cast out of his memory, but that certainly does not parallel his whole campaign.
After never getting past Round One in London, the 10th-ranked seed never dropped more than a set on his way to the Semi-Finals, knocking out young star Chalie Manby, and seed number 2 ‘Cool Hand’ Luke Humphries in the proccess.
Walking out the competion as the new Dutch No.1, a guranteed place in the Premier League and £500,000, Gian Van Veen had an compelling story this Winter.
3 other Quarter-Finalists have a interesting backstory which adds to a never-ending script of this World Championship, those being Ryan Searle, Gary Anderson and Justin Hood.
Ryan Searle suffers from an eye condition called Autosomal Dominant Optic Atrophy, which affects vision by causing the optic nerve to become progressively thinner, meaning on bad days, he can hardly see what he has scored. Paddy Power, the sponsors for the tournament, showcased a campaign for those with restricted vision, blurring their logos in a truly heartwarming and inspirational piece of marketing.
Gary Anderson, as mentioned, was back to his best this tournament, reaching the Semifinals for the first time in 5 years. The Scotsman beat the previous Dutch No.1, Michael Van Gerwen, in the Fourth Round, before beating Justin Hood in the Quarter Finals. The Darts Premier League is calling out for Gary Anderson, but a combination of age, time, and travel means he would pass up the opportunity if it came his way. Either way, a competition to be proud of for the 55-year-old who is finally back in the Order of Merit Top 10.
Justin Hood was a justified fan favourite throughout his tenure this year, a competition good enough for him to retire and focus on the sport he loves. His game with 6 seed Danny Noppert was arguably the game of the competition, grinding his way to a final-set victory over the Dutchman. His interview skills and camera antics made him a hero amongst the Ally Pally crowd, his 2 goals in 2026 being to win a major, and open a Chinese.
David Munyua, Motomu Sakai, Mitsuhiko Tatsunami. Three names most casual darting fans would not of heard of before the World Championship, they do now.
The Kenyan vet stole the show in the Afternoon Session of day four against major Champion Mike De Decker, coming from two sets to nil, to win 3-2 in one of the most special games Round 1 has ever seen. A breathtaking 135 checkout saved his skin in the fifth and final set against the Belgian, before exiting in Round 2. Although it was not a deep run or huge averages, it was his personality, playful character and passion that won over an Ally Pally crowd.
Motomu Sakai also made it to the Second Round of this years tournament, but yet again his showmanship, walk on, and mannerisms on stage were unforgettble, a quality perfromance against French No.1 Thibault Tricole put him into Round 2, where he loss to Swede Andreas Harrysson, another campaign to be proud of.
Last but not least, the final true hero of the World Championship was Japenese Mitsuhiko Tatsunami, who although did not progress past the first round, made a statement on the biggest stage of them all. Facing multiple time champ Michael Van Gerwen seemed like a innevitable clean sweep, but winning the first set turned the game upside down. Although this was the only set he could get on the board, it was possibly the most memroable of the tournament, hats of to you, Mitsuhiko.
To watch the story of the Darts World Championship in 9 photos – Click here
